Nathan Baring

Age: 19, Hometown: Fairbanks, Alaska

"Our government continues making today's profit a priority over protecting our right to a sustainable future. My generation, without voting rights, hasn't been fairly represented in making decisions that will affect our lives."

Winter rains have never been frequent in Nathan's hometown of Fairbanks, Alaska, but are now becoming the norm. More and more severe ice storms are also coming, and his city declared a state of disaster after a severe ice storm in 2014 created widespread power outages. Nathan and his family suffered without power for nearly a week in temperatures of 18 degrees Fahrenheit. On the other hand, during the summer of 2015, Fairbanks was surrounded by numerous wildfires and air quality rivaled that of some of the world’s smoggiest cities. As an asthma and allergy sufferer, this made it hard for Nathan to breathe. Nathan is working hard to take actions to reverse and mitigate the effects of climate change through his membership in Alaska Youth for Environmental Action and his work with Northern Alaska Environmental Center, the Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition and his church. Nathan is motivated from his strong connection with the arctic and desire to see it protected. Nathan hopes that more rural economies like his can be at the forefront of an energy transition as they are so deeply connected to our energy system.